Voiceless
by Obsession289699000203040508
Summary: Faithless sequel. After Kyo's rejection, Tohru gave up speaking. But now that she's out of the hospital, she's realized how hard it is to stay silent with everyone. And now she still can't ignore the attraction she still has to both Yuki...and even Kyo.
1. Chapter 1

**I do not own Fruits Basket.**

**If you haven't read the first story, _Faithless_, go to my profile, and it will be there.**

**After a long delay…I'm finally writing the sequel! Here's why it took me so long: I was contemplating over WTC (what the crudballs) I was going to write; I didn't know what the title was going to be. **

**If you've seen my poll (which is, like, 6 people – THANK YOU 6 PEOPLE…even though I kinda had to ask you…), then you know that there was a 5-way-tie between _Healing_, _Confused_, _Voiceless_, _Soundless_, and _Shattered_. Obviously, I ended up choosing _Voiceless_, mainly because it was the title I had first thought of.**

**Anyway…ON TO THE STORY!**

**-Point of View: Tohru-**

_Here I am, once again. Let's just hope this time around goes a lot better than the last,_ I thought when I saw _him_ walking towards me, white bowl in hand. _He_ was done with his dinner, as usual, first. I didn't even have to turn away from the soapy suds in my dish to know that the patter of feet obviously trying to be silent – but failing horribly – were _his_.

"Thanks for dinner," _he_ muttered just loud enough for my ears to hear.

I opened my mouth to respond. "You're –" I stopped myself – I wasn't supposed to be talking, especially to _him_. If I did, _he_ would just let himself in, grab my heart, and just rip it out again. I didn't want that. I didn't want anyone to do that to me ever again.

But I couldn't ignore the fact that I wanted to talk to _him_. Also, there was the unmistakeable glimmer of hope in his glassy, strong…deep red…eyes…

Stop it, Tohru!

When the orange-head was sure that I wasn't going to speak more than that one word, _he_ took a few cautious steps towards me – which caused me to just become more anxious – and place _his_ dishes in the sink, where the suds were starting to shrink. This fortunately took my focus away from _him_ and turned my attention to adding more soap to my mound of bowls and silverware.

"I'll just leave you to that," the boy whispered in my ear while spinning around to exit the kitchen. As _he_ had since I had returned from the hospital two months ago, _he_ was just going to go up to _his_ room and sulk, just like I'd wanted to do.

But, no. Yuki wouldn't let me do such a thing! He wouldn't pressure me to speak – though that just made it harder to keep silent – but he would, however, pressure me to spend as least amount of 'alone time' as possible. Unless I made gestures that said, 'It's not going to help; just leave me alone, please,' Yuki stayed by my side.

That wasn't such a bad thing, either. Truthfully, I wanted to be around Yuki. However, I also wanted to be around myself. And I still wanted to be around _him._ This conflict never eased its pressure. Although within the time spent at the hospital I had learned to be as expressionless or show slight emotions – good emotions, so visitors would not feel the need to enter the position I had been in for them – it was much harder with all the temptations here at home.

Ha…I still thought of that place as 'home.' It still was. A difficult one, but one that I still was unable to leave.

It was the one place I felt trusted.

For whatever reason, I still felt safe.

Plus, you know, Yuki and Kyo were there – wait, did I just say that? Crap. I really suck at this, don't I?

I didn't realize it, but I must have been huffing angrily, because when I noticed somebody's presence, that somebody looked like they feared I was going to punch a wall and ruin his house like _he_ and Yuki always did.

However, Shigure played off his concern very well. "So, Tohru, how's school been?" he asked as he brought in his dishes. In response, I just shrugged. "Are you having any trouble catching up on your work?" I shook my head.

In his typical Shigure manner, the dog leaned on the counter one foot away from my left arm. "You know, if you are having any trouble, I am available_ anytime_ for help," he suggested, wagging his eyebrows. It was evident that he was trying to evoke giggles out of my always silent voicebox. My teeth bit into my lip as an attempt to keep myself from laughing at him. After all, I wasn't sure if the other two boys knew, but at this point, I knew about his relationship with Akito.

That reminds me: I needed to call her to talk. Well, obviously I wouldn't, but she was just fine and dandy if all I did was listen and keep any comments or tips to myself.

"Shigure, I still have those dictionaries in a sack. I'd be happy to knock some chivalry into that perverted head of yours," said Yuki in his monotonous tone. When I glanced over at him, I wasn't surprised to see a smirk tugging at his thin lips. His thin, smooth…gentle…

_Stop it, you idiot! You know how this all went last time! Forget your attraction – to both of them, _the rational side of my brain scolded.

_But…I can't. I see them everyday. And…I still love them._

_Both of them._

I really suck at this. If only I had known how much trouble I would stir up by living with the Sohmas, I would have gone back to that damn tent in the middle of the forest.

**If you guys ARE familiar with this series, then I hope that you can figure out about whom Tohru is talking whenever she says _he, him, his. _I'm not quite sure why I keep using _Italics_ when Tohru's referencing _him_.**

**And no, I'm not gonna say who it is, because I think it's pretty obvious who it is, so I don't feel the need (not meant to sound as bitchy as it does).**

**THANKS FOR READING, **

**R/R/KR!**

**-Pamela**


	2. Chapter 2

**I don't own Fruits Basket.**

**I AM SO SORRY! Really…I'm sorry I haven't updated anything worth crap since a month ago…When I get home, I mainly spend my time watching TV/homework/on the weekends, playing video games, so…sorry.**

**I wrote the majority of this chapter in school so…um…**

**Anyway…*cough* _finally_…ON TO THE STORY!**

_Tohru was rushing to class one morning. Since she wasn't speaking, she neglected to mention to Shigure that she was most certainly _not_ going to walk to school with the cat and the rat. Shigure didn't realize that he would be taking her to school._

_Oopsies!_

_"You know, you didn't have to wait until the morning to let me know this, Tohru," Shigure said to her as he drove in his black car down the left side of the unusually calm roads._

_In response, she just nodded silently. She could hear the hesitance in his voice as he approached the phrase 'to let me know.' He didn't say she should have 'told' him._

_Well, it didn't matter anymore. By the time Shigure pulled into the intimidating large school, classes had long since started – and their single-toned conversation had long since ended. Tohru hastily gave the dog a wave and a nod before sprinting as quickly as her still healing legs could. She rushed anxiously through the black doors that were still as heavy – if not more so – as they had been since her first day there._

_As soon as her dainty feet stepped through the doorway, the empty hallway gave her full view to the chaotic sight in front of her, which practically sent her straight down on her hands and knees. However, Tohru was able to wobble and sway over to the body._

_The fetid stench of the blood made her want to vomit. She found it strange that this was the second time this person had let out such a putrid, puke-inducing smell. The sight of the dark red blood on the white walls, the matching floor, on the dark blue uniform and in the unmistakeably orange hair worsened that nausea. All of the cuts decorating the pale skin caused her to collapse by the boy's body. Her clenched fist pounded the cement by the unmoving arms she'd never feel holding her._

Why?_ Tohru thought. _Why did this happen? I still have so much –

_Suddenly, the arm twitched, Tohru's blue eyes flashed over to those deep, passionate and piercing red ones. She knew that time and fate would only give her a few moments before locking that gaze away forever._

_"Tohru…" _he_ whispered so gently and sweetly, awaiting her voice to soothe _him_ in _his_ final moments._

_She fought to speak that one sentence. He needed that much to be said – and so did Tohru. But nothing would come out. Not so much as a choked cry could be heard. She couldn't even breathe, as she was pushing her vocal chords to just make one noise._

Four words. I've said them before. They shouldn't be this difficult!_ Her mouth opened to form the first word, but still…nothing. She brought her hand to her throat, which was become sore from the effort of attempting just to say the word 'I.' Her left hand was in a tight ball, giving her dark blue, knee-length skirt the death grip._Say something, damn it!

_Just as she felt her vocal chords begin to vibrate, his eyelids started drooping. Tohru grabbed his hand and gripped it as hard as her strength would allow under this pressure._

_"I-I-I-I…" she stammered. But it was too late. His eyes were shut once more – for the last time. He would never hear the words she wanted to say so badly. Tears welled up in her tearducts and streamed down her face in grief._

_Behind her, Tohru's ears detected a chuckle. Her long, thin brown strands of hair whipped around her white-fabric-clad shoulders as she turned to face the person. What psycho had the right to _laugh_ at this?_

_When the image of the short, choppy black hair and unnaturally large kimono registered in her mind, Tohru wanted to screem. Still, no audible sound would come out, and who knows how much more time and effort it would take to do so again. Instead, she just gave the murderer a glare that said, 'What the hell is wrong with you?' That seemed suffice enough._

_"Don't you remember the day I pushed you off that hill?" the antagonist began. "Did you already forget what I said to you, little Miss Pain-In-The-Ass?"_

_She recalled _everything_ about that day; every breath, every word, every action. She rememberred the exact words Akito growled at her._

_"Let me remind you, in case you forgot," the leader of the Sohma family said condescendingly._

_"If I can't have him, then no one will!"_

**And…that's about it. Sorry, but I just couldn't think of anything good to write after that, and I don't thing you guys would be very happy with me if I kept you waiting any longer.**

**And yes, that was supposed to be a dream. You can probably tell who died. You can probably tell whose dream it was. Whenever I write dreams/flashbacks, they ALWAYS have to be in italics and they ALWAYS have to be in third person...that's just how I distinguish it while I write it.  
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**Ha ha, and sorry for making _him_ die! It just…adds to the drama.**

**R/R/KR/WFM! (Read/Review/Keep Reading/ Wait For Me!)**

**-Pamela**


	3. Chapter 3

**I don't own Fruits Basket.**

**I started thinking of this one while writing the dream-where-Kyo-dies…it was actually supposed to be a part of that chapter…but I didn't want to skip a month again. Anyway, I've been writing this chapter for about a week (during free time at school) and it's freaking LONG! Finally, right? And it's ENTIRELY in Kyo's perspective *fangirl overdrive* …oopsies…Well, I had a lot of fun writing this and I hope you have fun reading it!**

**Anyway…ON TO THE STORY!**

**-Point of View: Kyo-**

From the bedroom next door, I heard muffled, practically inaudible noises. At first, I dismissed it because I knew Shigure was in the room on my right. He was probably doing…whatever the hell it was Shigures did at night; I didn't want to know. Just thinking about it brought a disgusting and revolting mental picture to my mind. Then, trying to _not_ think about it just made it worse.

_Make it stop!_ I cringed and glared at the ceiling.

That was what I believed, overall. Then I realized the sounds were originating from the room to the _left_ of mine. Yuki's room was one to the right of Shigure's – you know, so neither of us could break my rirght wall, which had a large bookcase that would crash a hole in the floor if knocked over, in order to kill one another during the night. Plus, that damn rat would never be enough of a dumbass as to alert me of his oncoming assault. Also, he knew Tohru needed her rest, so Yuki wouldn't dare wake her with those sounds.

So…that just left…Tohru! Her bedroom was to the left of mine; my room's wall met the right side of hers. It was extremely thin, so sounds from her bedroom were easy to hear from my bed.

She was crying. She was crying in her own little method of trying to keep her sobs as silent as possible. Crap! Why didn't I realize this before I let her cries go on for so long?

I shot out of bed, landing on my toes so as to not wake that sick bastard next door – who knows what he'd do to her – and that damn rat – well… I didn't want to imagine him comforting her. It was all my fault, anyway. I might as well…

I sped to her room and stood by her bed. She was still asleep, but sobbing at the same time.

Nightmares suck.

Tohru lay on her side, crumpled up in a ball. Her rose-colored blanked was clenched hard in her fists, which, even though they were held close to her chest in the dark, I could tell she was stressing her knuckles. She was facing the wall opposite me and the door, so I wedged myself between her bed and the window. I had heard her whimpers and that saddened me. But that was nothing compared to the sight of her tears drenching her cheeks and her frilly pillow.

That was enough. I was two seconds away from breaking down and weeping along with her. My hand landed on her right shoulder, lightly shaking her. Tohru still wouldn't wake. I bit my lip, thinking of how to get her out of her nightmare without shaking her violently. There was no need to physically harm her.

_You're one to talk, hypocrite._

"Shut the hell up!" I muttered to myself. I flinched when my eyes caught sight of her fists slightly loosening their hold on her sheets. A barely audible groan came from her…lips…

I couldn't restrain myself any longer. How many days had gone by since the last time? My hands were placed in a position that they would be in if I were about to do alligator push ups; one was closer to my body, in front of hers; the other landed behind her back. My muscles flexed as my elbows bend to lessen the distance between us. I craned my neck so my head would be at just the right angle when…

_Snap out of it, perv!_

"Ack!" I jolted up straight. My grunt was apparently too soft for Tohru's ears, for she didn't budge an inch.

That was when the pain shot up my spinal cord. See, now that's what happens when you react too quickly.

"Damnit!" I growled with my teeth baring and clenching hard. Looking down at Tohru's _still_ – somehow – sleeping body, I sighed. She had twitched, and soon started rolling around in her bed, whimpering quietly. My throat swelled up with guilt. Crap; how many times would I screw everything up with her before I did even just one thing right?

Then an idea based on my most recent mis-hap popped into my head. _Let's try this again, shall we?_ When the distance between our faces was as small as it had been during my previous dumbass attempt at a kiss, I bring my lips three centimeters from her earlobes. She was now calm enough to keep still, thankfully.

Inhaling deeply, I whispered her name and told her to wake up. "Tohru," I breathed when she didn't respond. Another piece of dialogue comes to mind. Biting my bottom lip, I sort out the words. "Tohru…I…I love you. I know this is my doing, but everything will be fine for you…so please –"

Suddenly, I was enveloped by a cloud of glittering smoke. At first, my assumption was that my transformation was due to the seering pain in my back and the pain that had started to make my elbows shake. But once I realized that someone's arms were around me…

She hugged me. Tohru hugged me! I didn't give a crap that she made me turn into a cat for who know what time!

At least, I didn't care until her grip tightened. And tightened. And tightened. And started to suffocate me. I tried to find a surface my paws could push off without hurting her. No such luck.

"What the hell…?" I choked out. She was going to kill me at this rate! Not that I didn't deserve it, but…I should've died. I was supposed to die. I just couldn't imagine leaving Tohru before she was happy again, even if I was the source of her pain.

Then Tohru let go of me. She didn't loosen her stranglehold, but rather eliminated it entirely. Her crying had ceased, but I didn't hear her breathing. Concerned, I looked up at her face. Now that I was on her chest, my clothes lying underneath me, my feline eyes could see hers in the light they'd absorbed during my last transformation.

"Kyo…?" she whispered hoarsely. It came out so damn quiet I almost didn't catch it. Again, my heightened feline senses – the one up-side of being the cat – ended up being an advantage. I was so busy taking pride in my excellent hearing that I nearly forgot what I'd heard.

Tohru just…spoke.

She seemed to realize this, too, because her hand immediately covered her mouth. Her dark blue eyes widened, and mine probably did as well. As I watched more of her eyes being exposed, I saw the fear and regret of just saying my name. It was pretty damn obvious she wished she hadn't. I would've, too, if I had just said the name of the one person who was the reason I stopped speaking in the first place.

But the damage had been done. There was no taking it back now.

Happiness had run through me when I heard her mellifluous voice for the first time in over a month. However, the moment it registered that she hadn't wanted any sound to leave her mouth, that joy faded instantly. My head and ears dropped.

"Miss Honda? Are you all right?" Yuki's voice traveled from down the hall. Damnit!

"Tohru? You okay?" the dog asked groggily. Double damnit!

I couldn't let them see me! If I got caught in her room – in my animal form, no less! – I'd get so much hell from that damn rat. No, thanks.

I bit my clothes with my teeth and jumped lightly onto the grey carpet, being careful not to push off of Tohru's body to hard. There had been no door clicks that I had heard, so I assumed that I would be safe. Glancing behind at her wonderstruck irisis, I made my way to her door.

But I had closed it on my way it…and it isn't exactly the easiest task, quistly opening a door at night. Being a cat, this was an even bigger obstacle – one of the trillion disadvantages of being…this.

Now it had taken just too freaking long to escape. My eyes flashed up as the door began to slide open.

**Gotta love those cliffhangers, huh?**

**You know, I sure loved the word 'damn' in this chapter. I love swearing in general with Kyo...gee, I wonder why...*points to numerous Kyo-cuss moments in the first two volumes alone*  
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**:'( I didn't want her to speak yet…*cries* but whatever…**

**So I've been reading Death Note for the past month – **

**"SHUT UP!" Ian from smosh screams into my ear. All right, all right…**

**R/R/KR!**

**-Pamela**


	4. Chapter 4

**I do not own Fruits Basket.**

**I know I probably missed the anniversary mark but…about a year ago (you guys should know this…) was when I first published _Faithless_. …Um…yeah. I don't know what exactly I'm supposed to type right now except…**

**HAPPY, SAM? I'm updating!**

**Anyway…ON TO THE STORY!**

**(warning:SHORT...sorry...)**

**_Another announcement:I might update this during my online-story-writing-break, but I don't know. The reason for this break isn't because of writer's block; it's just that I don't like writing on these writing sites anymore. I don't want to dread updating them...so...yeah. And I realize this is pissing off some people (*points to SammiRichGurl* I'm gonna be in trouble when she reads this or when I tell her). Sorry. (1/21/12) _  
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**-Point of View: Tohru-**

What was I thinking? Why did I let this happen? Not only did I speak, I spoke to _him_! I even broke my vow to never think – or, for that matter, _say_ – the name of that boy. What was even worse was the fact that I said it to _his_ face. And right after that damn nightmare, too…

No. I could not end this. I could not let anyone get that close again. I would not yield to the temptation that came over me when I embraced _him_.

My bedroom, although there were little streams filtering around the thick magenta curtains on my window, was very dark in the morning. That must have been why I hadn't noticed the slender figure making his way across it. At least, not until he pulled my curtains apart in an attempt to wake me up, even though I had been awake for hours – ever since that little incident with _him_.

"Good morning, Miss Honda," Yuki's silky voice greeted as he turned just his head to the right so he could give me a warm smile. I fought the urge to return the statement, so I just nodded in response instead. But my nervous gulp was definitely noticeable by him. His thin eyebrow rose, but he quickly moved on.

"Did you sleep well?"

Nod. _Shake head._

"That's good to…know," he stumbled. After clearing his voice, Yuki told me that if I "didn't want that stupid cat to go violent with hunger," I should probably start getting up.

Alone in this room, I pulled on a mid-thigh length, smokey blue skirt with white knee socks. Buttoning up an aqua T-shirt, I walked down to the kitchen, where someone had already laid out some of the pots and pans. This person had gotten all of the materials wrong as for what was necessary for me to make breakfast, but I was still humbled. _How sweet!_

I replaced the food ware and began heating up little rolls for Yuki and _him_ to eat before they went to school. As I did, I thought about how this was, essentially, my only beneficial purpose in this house. This family was probably a lot better off without me there – even if Akito was still a bitch, I was the one who got her even angrier.

Suddenly, a sharp, seering pain was signaled from my left forearm. Looking down, I noticed that my right hand, which was holding a hot utensil, had naturally brought the burning hot object to my arm, burning it. It hurt!

_Exactly what I meant!_ I thought crossly. _I'm a nuisance! My clumsiness has caused nothing but trouble for this household…_

However, I couldn't just simply cease all movements – that would just be insane. Then, I looked down at the red burn mark. Somehow I felt like it had served some better purpose. Hmm…

"What happened to your arm?" a worried voice said over my right shoulder. Spinning around quickly, I practically dropped the item in my hand. Thank goodness that the food was safely sitting on a counter a few feet away.

Unfortunately, my facing of the male allowed for the perfect chance for those soft hands to grab my wrist to inspect the burn marks. I bit my lip, and my free hand gripped the edge of the light blue counter tightly to control my temptations. I tried to tell myself that nothing was wrong, that this would not do me any harm.

…Considering who was standing in front of me, I'd say that this was extremely hard to convince myself of.

"Tohru, what the hell did you do to your arm?" _he_ asked under his breath, _his_ teeth gritting with anger.

Did _he_ seriously expect me to answer _him_? Seriously?

My teeth bit down on my bottom lip even harder. My eyes flashed down to the utensil clenched in my right hand. So did _his_.

"Was it on purpose?" I truthfully wasn't sure. Was it really an accident? Did my hand just respond to my thoughts?

For the sake of not being a further annoyance on this topic, I simply shook my head. It was an accident.

At least, it was this time…

**I wanted this chapter to be funny…I guess that hope was crushed by the tenth sentence…I really need to write something funny…but my stories are supposed to be dramatic/depressing/sad…Damnit. Whatever, this is still my favorite story to write! (Pero soy muy perezosa.)**

**By the way, if I'm obviously avoiding the use of the word "he"…then (in most cases) it should be clear who I'm talking about. *cough* Kyo! *cough**cough**coughing fit**WATER!* **

**Thanks for reading! And thanks for reading for a year! I feel like I've improved quite a bit over the past year, as far as writing goes…sort of.**

**Who would've thought that Tohru having little...thoughts...about Kyo would lead to a different version of something from a different original story?  
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**R/R/KR!**

**Pamela**


	5. Chapter 5: Back from the Break :P

**I do not own Fruits Basket.**

**Anyway, since I just figured out what the hell I wrote for the last chapter…ON TO THE STORY!**

**-Point of View: Kyo-**

Not to sound like an ass, but she wouldn't _dare_ do that to her friends and family…to _me_. To _herself_.

She seemed conflicted when I asked her if the burning was intentional – if she was trying to inflict that damage – and she hesitated to shake her head... I doubted whether or not she knew it at the time. But I wouldn't pester her on that, seeing as I couldn't really figure out if she had. I wanted to believe her, I really did. Who wouldn't? However…my eyes saw Tohru pressing that hot pan to the side of her left arm. Her hand lessened the distance so slowly, as if she was deliberating. The way it happened made it look like she meant for it to happen.

No. I wasn't going to decide that for myself. If Tohru's face and expression had been revealed to me, then I could provide a better conclusion to this. But I can't. The last time I checked, I'm not psychic – even those cats, who make it seem like I have this tracking device that they implanted in my body with a motherboard that is only accessible by that species are a mystery to me.

I was now staring at the dark brown hair on the back of Tohru's head. Her attention was back on preparing the rolls I had seen in the pan in her hand. It appeared now as if my friend – if I could even _call _her that – was hyper attentive. Knowing her, Tohru could sense that I still stood behind her.

_Well, that's pretty damn obvious, dumbass,_ my mind said to me. _You __**are**__ only a couple of feet away. _

_Shut up, anyone can see that. How stupid do you think I am? _ I replied. _I wasn't done, either. Thanks for interrupting my thought process, Brain._

_Anytime._

Anyway, it wasn't that difficult for her to figure that I remained in the room. Tohru was obviously attempting to act as normally as possible so my suspicions would wane. Well, she'd apparently forgotten one important aspect of herself: she _sucks_ at pretending that nothing's wrong. But what could I do to make it right? Could I do anything at all?

My body pivoted slowly towards the door with my face parallel to the floor. After taking a few steps, I called her name again. When she turned to face me again, I muttered an "I'm sorry" that, as much as there were subconscious efforts made to make it inaudible to Tohru, she may have been able to hear considering her paranoia. But I don't think she could because there was that comfortably familiar look of wonderment in her eyes that led me to have to battle the smile that threatened to creep onto my lips. Instead, I chose to say, "Don't wait up for me, okay? I'm just going to skip breakfast," with a straight face.

Tohru's confusion, now paired with concern, must have escalated. This was perceptible by how her blue eyes darted from me to the breakfast she was making as well as the fretful message they held.

I shook my head at her. "Just don't hurt yourself while I'm gone," I warned, adding in a small chuckle to lighten the tension. But we both knew what my utterance meant. Without a moment's wait, Tohru smiled her pretend-grin. So as not to annoy her anymore, which I knew I was doing, I left the kitchen. When I did, I noticed Yuki sitting, cross-legged, at the table.

"You were in there for quite a while," he observed.

"So?" I retorted. Damnit – it might be a bit more difficult than I thought, not eating breakfast.

The rat's hands rose in surrender. "Nothing, nothing at all." He then lowered them, squinting at me solemnly. "Does she seem okay to you?"

Why he asked _me¸_ of all people, this shocked me a little bit. Whatever the reason, I answered him. After all, he's better at this than I am. "Well, besides burning herself with the pan she's using to make us breakfast, she didn't say a word and – as usual – put on a happy face." A look of alarm interrupted Yuki's somberness.

"Miss Honda burned herself with the pan?" He started to rise to go inspect Tohru's arm, but I gestured with a wave of my hand that, physically, there wasn't anything to worry about at that moment.

"It's only minor," I comforted. Sighing, I continued and confessed my concern to the rat. "My only fear is that she did it on purpose or that she'll _start_ hurting herself intentionally."

Yuki combined worry with the rise of an eyebrow. That same combination – distress with mockery – was audible in his voice. "And you thought it best to leave her in there alone?" Without waiting to hear the remark about my being a 'stupid cat,' I resumed the act of leaving. I didn't say anything more on the subject, since that damn rat should've known me well enough at that point to know what I would have said. He didn't say a word, either.

Good. No one was supposed to follow me, although I could feel Shigure's eyes doing just that from one of the windows on the front of the house's second floor. I just wanted to be in a place where even the dog couldn't see.

**So…I turned 15 on the 15****th ****(so I've been that age for about five-ish days)! My mom and my brother got me this laptop, so it'll be a little easier to update. Due to the heat of the aforementioned computer, however, it's kind of hot in my room.**

**Oh, and I'll decide what exactly Kyo's going to do during his 'alone time' next chapter. **

**Cheers for the likely probability that I'm back!**

**R/R/KR!**


	6. Chapter 6 Awww

**I do not own Fruits Basket.**

**Sorry for taking longer than I promised, Sam…and everybody…(even though I had promised SammiRichGurl that I was going to update, like, three weeks ago…)**

**Anyway…ON TO THE STORY!**

**-Point of View: Yuki (it's been a while, hasn't it, Yuki?)**

After that stupid cat's pouty exit, I decided to check up on Miss Honda. I realized that he was not necessarily a complete moron – he knew when an injury was severe enough to worry about, considering I had probably given him several such inflictions over the years – but it was always best to make sure.

"Miss Honda?" I called softly, gently knocking on the sliding door that led into the kitchen. Considering her newfound silence, it was clear that she wasn't going to tell me that I could enter. I respected that…for now. Due to this, I decided that it would be best if I just waited for her to open the door. Either that, or I'd just enter anyway if it didn't seem like a bad time. How did I choose to determine that?

My ear pressed against the door. Of course, I had to make sure I didn't _lean_ on it; Shigure may be lazy, inefficient, sloth-like, among other things, but when it came to our destruction of his house, the dog could get very aggressive about repairs.

But I didn't want to let my mind wander too far. Miss Honda was prioritized over Shigure every time.

As I was eavesdropping, I heard a sizzling sound. At first, I dismissed the noise, since it was obviously the materials placed inside a pan boiling. _It usually doesn't take her this long to make breakfast, though…_This thought seemed pointless as well, until I heard something that set my alarms off: a gasp.

Analyzing what I already knew – Miss Honda had 'accidentally' burned herself just a few minutes before, the pan was still sizzling, and breakfast was taking longer to bake than normal – I began to hypothesize that she was burning herself. And if she was…it might be for real this time, whether she meant to before or not

I fumbled to slide open the door and stormed into the kitchen. However, I didn't open it widely enough, so I stumbled through the small space…and fell flat on my face. With a grunt, I pushed myself off of the floor and into a squatting position, standing back on my feet soon afterward. I then turned my attention back to Miss Honda, who now wore a face of combined pain and worry. She didn't even pay attention to the pan that she let go of that now was clanking against the floor.

"I'm fine," I reassured. My eyes traveled down to her hands and lingered there for a moment, trying to test and see if there were any abnormalities. Just before she realizes what I'm doing, I catch sight of a long, red mark on her forearm in time for my mind to register it before she swiftly drops her right arm to her side, pressing the burn site on her skirt and covering it up. She put on a warm yet defensive smile and retrieved the pan to put in the sink directly behind her. Immediately after doing so, Miss Honda gave me a 'one moment, please' gesture and turns to the sink. It was obvious that she didn't want me to see her face, although she couldn't hide her silent sigh. When I saw her shoulders rise and fall, I knew that that stupid cat had actually been on to something…she was hurting herself…I had to help her – sooner rather than later.

I took a few steps in Miss Honda's direction to bring me to her side. She wouldn't look me in the eye; she just stared into the drain. My left hand reached out and turned on the faucet. Then, as the water ran, I lightly took hold of her right arm. Sure, she tried to pull away, ignoring the fact that I had more physical strength than her. Without trying to seem like an ass, I tugged gingerly until she gave up and let me run the cold water over the minor burn. After a minute or so had passed with the only sound being the running water, Miss Honda snapped her left hand out to turn off the water. I let go of her arm like she obviously wanted to, but I wasn't done.

"I don't need to know why," I began, "but what I do want…"

Placing my left hand on her cheek, I turned her face towards me. Her eyes were full of fear and something else I couldn't really place.

"I don't want you to turn me away like this," I whispered, looking down into the sink for a moment before returning my gaze to my friend. The fear and the other emotion seemed to have intensified. She was also now biting her lip and slightly scrunching her eyebrows together. "You don't have to speak right now. It would be unrealistic to assume that I have the same healing presence as you, Miss Honda. But," I leaned in closer to her, "just don't shut us out – at least not me." As I continued to decrease the distance between us, I said, "I don't think I'd be able to survive with that kind of barrier."

Speaking of barriers, the one that separated us was just about gone.

Then it became nonexistent…the moment I kissed her.

**I'm smiling now – this is such a cute moment…I'm jealous of Tohru! She gets two guys who love her, and I…well…MOVING ON!**

**…I wanted to write as Yuki (he deserves some attention!)…but it's a little difficult…at first, anyway. But at the same time, all of my chapters are difficult at the start, but it gets easier (and more fun) towards the end.**

**Haha, I'm also writing this chapter while watching Yu-Gi-Oh! GX on the 4kidsTV website…I'm writing it during the ads and during recaps/opening sequences. It makes it a bit more fun ****J**

**Well, I hope you guys liked this one – it's currently one of my favorites and I JUST barely got it in before June ended…(finished at 11:30 at night on June 30…)**

**R/R/KR!**

**-Pamela**

**Actual non-bold, plot-portion word count: 870 (according to Microsoft Word, that is.)**


	7. Chapter 7

**I do not own Fruits Basket.**

**I sure love squeezing chapters out at the end of the month, don't I?**

**Anyway…ON TO THE STORY!**

**-Point of View: Tohru-**

"Hey, Tohru," my best friend, Arisa Uotani, called as she spotted me in school.

"Good morning, Tohru," my other best friend, Saki Hanajima, greeted as she strolled next to Uo.

I just waved and smiled in response. However, in doing so, I forgot something very important: my burn marks from this morning hadn't entirely healed as of yet. So, as a result…

"What the hell happened to your arm?" Uo exclaimed. She gripped my left arm and held it up close to her face, inspecting it. I could see Hana's eyes surveying my right arm – which had been burned more recently than my left – and so I repeated the action I had taken with Yuki this morning, hiding that arm the best that I could behind my back.

"Her right arm, too," Hana observed. Damnit. Now they will know what I did. What I would do. "And your waves…they're very…" Damnit! Stop it, Hana! I wanted to scream at her. I wanted to glare at her and just make her stop! She was one of my best friends, and I was just so pissed at her! She was trying to get me back to normal!

"Yeah, they're very what?" Uo wondered as she was trying to stealthily look at my right forearm, allowing my left one to drop to my side in the process.

Hana was perplexed. "I don't…know…? I can't sense yours very well, Tohru…why?" She was worried. She wasn't just worried about me; now, by cutting her off with my inner anger, I had made her think that her sixth sense wasn't strong anymore. Now, I wanted to cry.

No. No crying. Not to them. Not anymore.

Hoping to help my friends move on from this subject, I placed one hand on Saki's shoulder and tried to smile warmly. This kind of expression had started to become difficult to show, but I had to get people to stop thinking about what I was doing.

Well, it worked…sort of.

"Your face is red, Tohru," Hanajima noticed, giggling lightly. Lifting my hand off of her shoulder, I bashfully covered my cheeks, fighting the shy laugh that threatened to come out.

"Oooh, you're blushing!" Uo teased. "Did some other boy come and sweep you off your feet for a change?"

I turned away. No matter how they meant it, I couldn't say yes – for multiple reasons. The only two boys I could say that I've ever been interested in – the only two that have…swept me off my feet, for lack of a better term – were Yuki and _him_.

Speaking of which, Yuki was at the end of the hallway, walking towards us. Our eyes met, and he gave me his typical tilt-of-the-head smirk. This made my face even redder.

"Prince Charming, huh?" said Arisa.

"Here we go again…" said both of my friends in unison. I whirled around to face them again, a confused expression mixed in with my embarrassed one. What did they mean, 'Here we go again…'

Ack! Yuki was coming closer to us! I didn't want him to see me blushing like this! That would definitely be bad for my plan. Then he would know that I…liked it when he kissed me. I wasn't sure what he thought from my reaction this morning.

Arisa walked up to my side and placed an elbow on my right shoulder. Saki stood next to her, one hand holding her wrist in front of her. "Yo, Prince Charming."

"Good morning, Miss Uotani," Yuki responded. "How are you, Miss Hanajima?"

"Oh, don't give us that," Uo said with a smirk.

With scrunched eyebrows, Yuki asked, "What do you mean?"

"We know you did something with Tohru," Hana started to explain in her usual monotone.

When Yuki tried to look at me, I looked down. I couldn't lock eyes with him – not in this situation.

Uo lifted her elbow from my shoulder and stepped so she would stand next to the rat. Lightly, she nudged him in the gut with her opposite elbow. "Come on, spill it," she teased. "Every detail."

I knew she meant nothing by it, but still – that last comment, it…bothered me. I didn't want her to know _every detail_. That would make it her business, too – the more people know, and the more people _that_ know, the less control I'll have over my heart, and the more likely I am to get hurt by them.

"I think," Yuki began. My eyes flashed up to his, ready to plead for his silence. "I think that that is between me and Miss Honda." Turning his face to Uo's, he gave her a little chuckling smirk. "Anyway, class is about to start, so we should all be on our way." His eyes met with mine again. I think he could tell from the blue in my eyes that I wanted to hug him so badly. Before he could get much more than that, I looked back down to my shoes.

"I guess you're right…" Hana and Uo said disappointedly in unison.

"Well, then, shall we?" The rat led the way into our homeroom, which was conveniently right next to where we were standing.

**I know it's short, but when I go to a certain vacation spot with some of my family, I know what I will be writing in my update journal for this story! Haha…**

**R/R/KR!**

**-Pamela**

**Actual, non-bold, story word count (according to Microsoft Word) = 860**


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